By Rotimi Fasan
Not even the most starry-eyed protester of the thousands gathered at Egypt’s Tahir Square last February could have imagined what finally played out in an Egyptian court room when Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were put on trial last week.

Lying on his back on a stretcher inside a cage like a dangerous animal (except that in this instance Mubarak’s own safety must have been uppermost in the mind of the new authorities of Egypt, if not for nothing but to prevent a replay of the treatment meted Rupert Murdoch when Jonathan May-Bowles poured shaving foam on his octogenarian face following his appearance before British parliamentarians about the phone hacking incident involving his media outfit), Mubarak was wheeled into the courtroom.

Nothing could have been more symbolic of the present status of the former president of Egypt. And this image of him on his back, humbled before people, former subordinates and probably hangers-on, who only months ago would have trembled at the mere mention of his name- indeed this image of a practically defeated Mubarak being shielded from the cameras by his sons must go down as one of the most iconic symbols of the triumph of the sovereign will of the people over despotic power.

Perhaps but for the renewed protests in Egypt in which the people expressed their anger at the slow pace of reforms- perhaps for these, Mubarak might still be resting in relative comfort under a cloud of speculations as to the actual state of his health. But once the people returned to Tahir Square and the Islamists, in the last few days started calling for the imposition of the Sharia, Mubarak’s trial seemed a foregone conclusion. How indeed have the mighty fallen!

To say that for some 30 years Mubarak held sway over the Arab world, to say that in those 30 years he grew to become, perhaps, the most influential Arab leader- one whose words resonated beyond the geographic borders of the Middle East.

To say that same man is now being put on trial, the first Arab leader to be so treated. This must indeed signal a steep descent down the slopes of oblivion. The page is finally being turned on that era of Egyptian patriarchs, from Gamel Abdel Nasser through Anwar Sadat to Mubarak- the era of grandfather presidents is over and the picture of Mubarak, all 83 years, lying prostrate on his back must be fitting symbol of that end.

Yet things were not always like this for Mubarak. A former air force officer in the Egyptian military, Mubarak rose on the ashes of the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981 by Muslim extremists. For years he battled the Islamists with the full support of a pampered military that stood behind one of their own. In the course of his struggles against the mounting opposition of these extremists who were bent on imposing their brand of Islamic religion on the rest of Egyptians, Mubarak came to acquire powers that could dwarf that of a medieval despot.

His was practically an imperial presidency in which wife and children had powers simply on account of their relationship to the president. It was the same privilege by association that members of the military enjoyed. In due course, Mubarak and his supporters (many of whom should be praised for their loyalty as they are still to be seen engaging his detractors in battle-even during last week’s trial of their principal) came to acquire more power than is good for any human being; were alienated from the people they presumed to rule; became impervious and increasingly deaf to their yearnings.

Though there appeared calmness to events in Egypt, but beneath that apparent calm was a boiling cauldron of violence. And by the time the Arab Spring began last December, sweeping off Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Alli, Mubarak could no longer read the signs of the times.

He was cocky, in one breath offering stick and carrot. He saw the crowd at Tahir daily increasing but thought all he needed to do was to order the protesters back home like a stern big daddy. Where this failed he offered sop by way of token reforms and promises of more. But not for once did Mubarak contemplate stepping down.

So that only hours to the time he would make the astounding announcement that he would step down, he indeed went on air to tell Egyptians that he would remain their president. It all turned out a mere bravado of a defeated leader who mistook his bark for a bite.

By the time the heat was applied a little more, he buckled and took the back exit from the presidential palace like chastened dog with its tail between its legs. Six months during which things boiled over in the Arab world and Mubarak, his two sons and former interior minister, had their day in court and all have pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters at the start of the Arab Spring.

Suddenly that which looked impossible looks totally natural. Of course, there are those yet to come to terms with the reality of yesterday’s men of power now being humbled before the very people they thought had no say.

Even many of the people are themselves astounded at the turn of events. Some are full of pity for an 83-year-old man made to stand (or, if you will, lie on his back) to answer charges of working against the interest of his own people.

It was Achebe who once warned that nobody wins a war against their own people. Such a leader, no matter how altruistic, Achebe appears to be saying, would only be engaged in a ‘fight of blame’. Ezeulu tried it but when one calamity after another befell him, he realised the game was over. Sani Abacha learned it- but only when on the other side to wherever.

Mubarak learned it but too late, as would Gaddafi and, hopefully, the blood-thirsty Bashar al-Assad of Syria who, even after a close shave with death, returned from Saudi Arabia to continue the slaughter of his own people. Which really is the sad part of the tale: African leaders are like the local goat that never learns.